盘古开天
Pangu separates the sky and the earth
Name: ________________ Date: ________
很久很久以前，没有天，也没有地，没有白天，也没有晚上。整个世界就像一个大鸡蛋，里面又黑又乱。
在这个“鸡蛋”里，有一个巨人正在睡觉，他的名字叫盘古。盘古一睡，就睡了一万八千年。
有一天，盘古终于醒了。他睁开眼睛，什么也看不见。他想伸个懒腰，可是手脚都碰到了蛋壳。“这地方太小了！”盘古不高兴了，使劲一推，“鸡蛋”破了。
蛋里的东西慢慢分开了：轻的、清的往上升，变成了天；重的、脏的往下沉，变成了地。
可是盘古担心，天和地还会再合在一起。于是他站在中间，用头顶住天，用脚踩住地。
从那天起，天每天升高一丈，地每天加厚一丈，盘古的个子也每天高出一丈。一丈有三米多。就这样，又过了一万八千年，天已经很高很高，地已经很厚很厚，盘古也成了一个顶天立地的巨人。古书上说，天和地之间有九万里那么远。
这下，天地再也不会合上了。可是盘古太累了，他慢慢地躺了下来，再也没有起来。
就在这时，奇怪的事情发生了。盘古呼出的气，变成了风和云彩；他的声音，变成了打雷的声音。他的左眼变成了太阳，右眼变成了月亮。他的头发和胡子变成了天上的星星，他的血变成了江河，他的肉变成了土地，他身上的毛变成了花草树木，他的汗变成了雨水。
还有一个版本说，盘古身上的小虫子被风一吹，变成了最早的人。所以，按照这个说法，我们都是从盘古身上的小虫子变来的。
很多人以为，盘古是用一把大斧子把天和地分开的。不过，最早的古书里根本没有斧子。这把斧子，是一千多年以后的明朝小说才加上去的。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 整个 | zhěnggè | whole; entire |
| 醒 | xǐng | to wake up |
| 推 | tuī | to recommend (as in 推荐) |
| 轻 | qīng | soft; gentle |
| 重 | zhòng | layer (as in 万重山) |
| 厚 | hòu | thick |
| 之间 | zhījiān | between; among |
| 躺 | tǎng | to lie (down); to recline |
| 星星 | xīngxing | star (in the sky) |
| 血 | xuè | blood |
| 汗 | hàn | speechless; embarrassed (internet reaction) |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
English (for the teacher)
Long, long ago there was no sky and no earth, no day and no night. The whole world was like a giant egg, dark and jumbled inside.
Inside this “egg” slept a giant, and his name was Pangu. Once Pangu fell asleep, he slept for eighteen thousand years.
One day Pangu finally woke up. He opened his eyes and could see nothing at all. He wanted to stretch, but his hands and feet bumped against the shell. “This place is too small!” Pangu was annoyed; he gave a hard push, and the “egg” broke.
What was inside slowly came apart: the light, clear part rose and became the sky, and the heavy, murky part sank and became the earth.
But Pangu worried that the sky and the earth would close up again. So he stood between them, holding up the sky with his head and pressing down the earth with his feet.
From that day on, the sky rose one zhang every day, the earth grew one zhang thicker every day, and Pangu grew one zhang taller every day. A zhang is a little over three metres. And so another eighteen thousand years passed: the sky was very, very high, the earth was very, very thick, and Pangu had become a giant who stood with his head in the sky and his feet on the ground. The old book says the sky and the earth ended up ninety thousand li apart.
Now the sky and the earth would never close again. But Pangu was too tired; he slowly lay down and never got up again.
Just then, something strange happened. The breath Pangu let out became wind and clouds, and his voice became thunder. His left eye became the sun and his right eye the moon. His hair and beard became the stars in the sky, his blood became the rivers, his flesh became the soil, the hair on his body became flowers, grass and trees, and his sweat became the rain.
Another version says the tiny bugs on Pangu’s body were blown by the wind and turned into the first people. So, by that account, we all come from the bugs on Pangu’s body.
Many people think Pangu split the sky and the earth with a big axe. But the oldest books have no axe at all. The axe was only added more than a thousand years later, in a Ming dynasty novel.